MAMA Gallery will be presenting There Is No End, James Georgopoulos’s first solo exhibition with the gallery on view February 28 through April 4, 2015. The opening reception for the artist will be held tonight in the DTLA Arts District, Saturday, February 28, 2015 from 6:00PM – 9:00PM.

This exhibition of new work by American artist James Georgopoulos explores familiar themes and tropes of sexuality, consumerism, and money worship – thoughtfully disguised in popular culture as the American dream. Following in the same lineage of artists such as John Chamberlain or even Marcel Duchamp, by using objects – old car parts, disused slot machines and other jettisoned materials – Georgopoulos investigates the self-cannibalizing culture of consumerism.

There Is No End surmises a continuing need for material sustenance, but at the same time an unending universal expansion with the comical notion that one day time and space will cease to exist, resulting in a beautiful nothingness – a stark contrast to the vertigo of contemporary reality.

Georgopoulos is an artist who understands this contemporary reality well. A product of the Baby Boomer generation, Georgopoulos drew inspiration from the windows of his family’s retail business in New Hampshire. In these windows, Georgopoulos played with notions of commerce and the power of aesthetic symbolism. The artist remembers being fascinated by the large, highly produced window displays on New York’s Fifth Avenue and realizing that he could bring that same degree of high-quality construction to his small New England town. Georgopoulos’s desire for scale and meaning through his art continued to take shape when he moved to Hollywood to create large, active sets for film, music videos and commercials. The temporary nature of his work in the entertainment industry left him yearning for a sense of permanence for his artistic practice.

Today his work has a permanent place in his studio. Moving on from his celebrated Guns of Cinema series, Georgopoulos is exploring three-dimensional, site-specific, sculptural works that deal with erotically charged, frenetic notions of needs versus wants and the confusion of material desire – the idea that life would be better with a new television, a new car, a million bucks, a gorgeous wife, seat warmers and the winning lottery number. In There Is No End, Georgopoulos is not making a political statement – nor is he taking sides – he is simply exploring ideas about infinity and the meaningfulness of being present.

Excerpt from an article by Oliver Maxwell Kupper featured in issue 3 of AUTRE Magazine.

ABOUT MAMA GALLERY
MAMA promotes progressive vision and ideas through multidisciplinary exhibitions and installations, both within the walls of the gallery and in alternative spaces. MAMA presents and facilitates the production of both motion and motionless content to further the careers of visual, performance and installation artists. MAMA was founded by Adarsha Benjamin and Eli Consilvio and occupies a 4,000 square foot gallery space in the Arts District in Downtown Los Angeles.

James Georgopoulos, You Are a Winner, 2015, Wild Cherry slot machine with 1:31 single channel video

Micheal Maltzan is the architect behind One Santa Fe in the Arts District that is the new mixed use development, that has created much controversy. In addition, he is the architect for the new Sixth Street Viaduct replacement project, which is replacing the original 1932 bridge. The goal for the project is to and unite the Boyle Heights community to the east and the Arts District and Downtown to the west.

Cartwheel Art is excited to be supporting A + D Museum, who will be our new neighbors in the Downtown Los Angeles Arts District. See the article here from DT News.

This is the second Lecture of their 2015 event series in collaboration with Cal Poly’s LA Metro Program in Architecture & Urban Design and AIA|LA.

The event is free for Cal Poly students, alumni and A+D Museum members with RSVP.
$7 for students, $15 for individuals.GET TICKETS + RSVP

Jennifer Korsen, whose solo exhibition “Cross My Heart” runs through Saturday at Stone Malone Gallery, is known for her (at times anatomically incorrect) hearts that spout multiple valves and express a range of emotions with her judicious use of paint. Korsens hearts are jubilant, wistful, disconsolate, celebrating the range human emotion and so well, full of heart that the American Heart Association is featuring them in upcoming campaigns.

Though Korsen, a third generation Angeleno, paints more than just hearts as her work in the recent portraits show at Red Pipe showed, but it’s her signature hearts that have launched her career which also includes street art, murals and utility boxes. You can see her show through this Saturday, February 28, and meet her on the Cartwheel Art Tour March 15 which will showcase her new mural with Scepterhed.

There’s an art to curating, and many artists who curate, excited by the art of others, excited to further their own vision. The Gabba Gallery, which delights in showcasing all mediums of art, brings together twenty-six of these curator/artists for their first annual “Curate This!” opening Saturday, February 28 at 7pm. (Full disclosure: I am one of the twenty-six).

“Curate This!!!” was inspired by The Gabba Gallery curator Phil Santos who is a big fan of work of Nathan Cartwright [The Hive Gallery]’s work, but since thr gallery like to go big, Phil expanded the idea to encompass multiple curator/artists in one show. The Gabba Gallery’s owner/director Jason Ostro (who along with Santos is also in “Curate This!!!”) explains:

We had no idea how many curators were initially artists as well, but after a little research, found there to be quite a few amazing artists who also happened to be curators. So many that we have decided that we want this to be an annual show. This way we can add people we were sorry to miss this year, or that emerge in the next year.

With a roster of curator/artists that includes indie curators and those from established galleries, “Curate This!!!” puts the the spotlight on curators, revealing their (at times hidden) studio talents and the joy they find in creating. Say Phil:

We are so happy about our mix of artists from some of the best galleries in LA. We know opening night, the collection will be beautiful, and the house packed. We are looking forward to the first annual Curate This!

Reminder: Hawaii is a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Throughout most of history, it’s proven a culture difficult to penetrate. That also ensures the Islands’ heritage stays rich and seemingly unbreakable. So aside from the non-stop influx of sun-burned tourists sporting Aloha shirts, not much else coming from outside leaves much of a lasting impression. But once Jasper Wong founded ” POW! WOW! Hawaii” in 2011, the international art community became a member of the ohana. San Fran-based artist Chad Hasegawa, who grew up on Oahu and gladly returned for “POW! WOW!” enthused:

“If they had something like this for artists in Hawaii back in the day, I would’ve never had to leave.”

The 10-day kaleidoscope of expression that is “POW! WOW!” Hawaii features an open canvas of ideas and creativity by spotlighting the overall creation of art. And while it includes forums, music and plenty of eye-popping street murals, this year’s “POW! WOW!” was bookended by two marquee gallery exhibits.

Breaking the ice first was the “Second Annual Exploring The New Contemporary Art Movement” exhibition at the Honolulu Museum of Art School, curated by Andrew Hosner from Los Angeles’ Thinkspace Gallery. The closing weekend exhibition featured the RVCA Art Show, curated by P.M. Tenore.

The opening reception on February 7th saw the packed house split between perusing one hundred and three vivid wall-hangers in the museum and a vodka/Purps-infused dance party outside in the gardens, guided by the beats of SuperCW, Mike D, Gotaro and Mr. JPatt.

For the second-straight year, Hosner was instrumental in bringing together a bevy of different styles and techniques from around the globe and also locally in Hawaii. But one thing remained constant, the curator explained:

“I chose a 12” x 12” display for this exhibit because it levels the playing field and makes it easier for the viewer to appreciate each piece separately as well as the collection as a whole.”

In its entirety, “POW! WOW! Hawaii” features the works of forty visiting visual artists andforty local Hawaiians. And the Islanders’ radiant-yet-varied works are a far cry from the stereotypical, kitschy floral prints and hula dancers of their ancestors. Hawaii’s contemporary art culture is clearly on the rise and filled with a blend of the gritty, hip-hop-infused street feel, mind-bending psychedelia patterns and socio-cultural, conscious messages. For those on the inside, “POW! WOW!” is a chance to show the global art community that Honolulu has just as much of a thriving scene as its larger, more-publicized mainland counterparts. Said Oahu’s Aaron ‘Angry Woebots’ Martin, aka Woes:

“I’ve been doing this [art] since 2002 and always had to travel internationally for collaborations at events like this, so to have a show like ‘POW! WOW!’ here in Hawaii makes me really proud of where I came from.”

Outside the gallery exhibit, Woes is also one of the painters participating in the live murals adorning buildings, garages and other monoliths in 37 locations dotted throughout Honolulu’s Kaka’ako district. The neighborhood is lined with hard-nosed auto-mechanic shops and homeless wanderers in city parks, mingling with upscale apartment buildings, hipster bars and boutiques. And now, with two years of “POW! WOW!” murals blessing its streets, it’s clear Kaka’ako is destined to be Honolulu’s newest hub for urban and modern art.

Wander around this ‘hood long enough during “POW! WOW!” and you’ll be drawn to obscure corners, warehouses, and alleys by the rattles and sprays of paint cans. Some of this year’s highlights include local tattoo artist and underground street muralist Katch 1’s massive under-the-sea wall (photo above; 3D glasses recommended), Chad Hasegawa’s nine-panels of grizzly bears, Woes and Nosego’s collabo on the side of Lana Lane Studios, and LA’s David Flores’ tribute to Hawaii surf legends Eddie Aikau and Duke Kahanamoku, shown joining hands alongside of Kaka’ako’s Mother Waldren Park.

Flores’ lasting message, perhaps, best transcends “POW! WOW!”’s overall purpose — bringing international artists to Hawaii to leave a lasting impression that the local community will cherish well into the future.

And his inspiration behind the six-wall mural? Flores, shaking his spray can in the warm, tropical breeze, simply said:

“They’re Hawaiian.”

What follows are photos taken throughout Honolulu during POW! WOW! Hawaii. All images courtesy of Mike Cianciulli. Give him a follow on Instagram.

February 7th’s Opening Reception of the Second Annual Exploring The New Contemporary Art Movement Exhibition kicked off the 10-day extravaganza of artistic expression.

The evening saw a packed house of art lovers at the Honolulu Museum of Art School.

“I chose a 12” x 12” display for this exhibit because it levels the playing field and makes it easier for the viewer to appreciate each piece separately as well as the collection as a whole,” said Andrew Hosner, who curated the exhibit.

The exhibit was on display at the Honolulu Museum of Art School from February 7th through February 18th.

103 different 12″ x 12″ adorned the walls of the gallery.

Some pieces were more intricate than others, offering varied styles of mixed media.

The exhibit proved that Honolulu has a thriving art scene, comparable to its larger, more-publicized mainland counterparts.

L.A.’s Thinkspace Gallery provided much of the art, although there were plenty of local Hawaiian pieces on display as well.

See The Light by POW! WOW! Hawaii co-director Kamea Hadar.

After perusing the gallery, much of the crowd flocked outside to the garden area for a vodka/Purps-infused dance party guided by the beats of SuperCW, Mike D, Gotaro and Mr. JPatt.

One of the many joys of street murals is the reaction from random passersby.

Underground street muralist Katch 1 was handing out 3D glasses to enhance the viewing of this massive under-the-sea wall. (The finished mural is at the top of this page.)

New York’s Vincent Di Nguyen takes a break from this muted tone cartoon. Check out his Instagram for the finished work (with a colorful surprise).

Woes and Nosego’s work-in-progress on the side of Lana Lane Studios in Kaka’ako. (Check their finished product here.) “I’ve been doing this [art] since 2002 and always had to travel internationally for collaborations at events like this,” said Oahu’s Woes. “So to have a show like POW! WOW! here in Hawaii makes me really proud of where I came from.”

Coachella + Global Inheritance Present The Art of Recycling
Design A Recycling Bin + Join Us At The Festival
Do you have the skills to transform an ordinary recycling bin into a masterpiece? Ever wondered what your artwork would look like amidst the Coachella landscape? Want to be a part of the creativity and originality that inspires festival attendees this year? Then, seize the opportunity and submit your artwork today!

Send Global Inheritance your concepts, and you might be one of the 35 artists selected to redesign a recycling bin into a work of art (AND RECEIVE A VIP WEEKEND 2 PASS FOR COACHELLA). Whether you’re world famous or underground, here’s the perfect avenue to exhibit your art and help keep the Polo Fields free of rogue bottles and cans. Skills and imagination are equally important, so choose your examples wisely!

DEADLINE TO SUBMIT AND VOTE IS 11:59 PST FEBRUARY 20TH!

Submitting Your Artwork

POST your concept design on the TRASHed Coachella Contest Page. (All submissions will be posted and available to vote on this page). OR simply email your design concepts and portfolio to TRASHed@globalinheritance.org
SHARE your submissions online to get your friends to vote! Tag Us:
@globalinheritance
@GLBLinheritance
/globalinheritance

This year’s TRASHed Coachella collection will consist of artwork by 35 artists. The top 3 vote-getters from the online contest will automatically be chosen. The Facebook contest will NOT directly influence the decision for the 32 remaining artists chosen. All other artists will be curated by our internal team, based on a number of variables and factors (including concept, past artwork, diversity of the collection as a whole, appropriateness for the festival and for schools afterwards, etc.). Those artists who are curated may be contacted earlier. The final list of selected artists will be announced February 23.

All confirmed artists will receive a blank 65 gallon recycling bin and a 6″ miniature recycling bin to reimagine and redesign, as well as Weekend 2 Coachella pass.

California Schools

After Coachella, the TRASHed Coachella bins will be donated to K-12 schools across California. If you’re an artist, make sure your designs are school-appropriate! If you’re looking to secure TRASHed recycling bins for your school, email us for additional info at TRASHed@globalinheritance.org.

Want to see masterpieces created by past TRASHed artists? Check out our Best of TRASHed Photo Gallery. Also, check out the Cartwheel Art Coverage from 2014 and 2013 and our preview post in 2013.

The Art of Elysium and Samsung Galaxy along with Sotheby’s present the 8th Annual Charitable Art Auction ” Pieces of Heaven” this evening at MAMA Gallery in the Downtown Los Angeles Arts District. The event is from 7:00pm – 10:00pm with the live auction 8:00pm with Andrew Fiuezynski, Chairman, Soethby’s West Coast.

We took a few preview photos that follow. For all of the work available this evening, check out the link here on Paddle8.

MAMA Gallery is located in the Downtown Los Angeles Arts District at 1242 Palmetto Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013.

The Downtown Los Angeles Arts District (where we are based) and Boyle Heights are getting a newly, designed bridge, with an arts plaza included, along with facilities for bicyclists and pedestrians and a soccer field.

The Sixth Street Viaduct Replacement Project has begun! Please join Councilmember Jose Huizar, Mayor Eric Garcetti, Congressman Xavier Becerra, State Senate President pro Tem Kevin de Leon, Assemblymember Miguel Santiago, local community leaders, and public officials as they celebrate the groundbreaking of this momentous project. The $422 million dollar bridge, designed by world renowned architect Michael Maltzan, will replace the existing structurally deficient viaduct with a state of the art iconic bridge.

For those that are unfamiliar with the project, here is more information about the Sixth Street Viaduct Replacement Project from their website:

Constructed in 1932, the Sixth Street Viaduct (also known as the Sixth Street Bridge) is an important engineering landmark in the City of Los Angeles. It is one of a set of fourteen historic Los Angeles River crossing structures, and is the longest of these structures.

Unfortunately, the bridge began to deteriorate, and the city realized it was necessary to accommodate the needs of the district as well as transportation issues. The new viaduct will be safer for vehicles, pedestrians and bicyclists, and provide community resources, like the soccer field and the art plaza.

In September 2012, the City of Los Angeles undertook a Design Competition to select a design for the new viaduct. For more information on the design competition firms and designs click here. In December 2012, the Bureau of Engineers alongside Mayor Antonio Villariagosa and Councilmember Jose Huizar, 14th District announced the winning firm, HNTB.

February 22 celebrate two decades of groundbreaking art, celebrated with a mega show featuring over 100 artists popularized through the genius of Juxtapoz Magazine. Founded in San Francisco Robert Williams, Craig Stecyk, Greg Escalante, Eric Swenson and Fausto Vitello as a West coast nose-thumb to the New Your art establishment, Juxtapoz slammed contemporary street culture, figurative art, California car culture, gig posters, tattoos, graphics, psychedelia and comics onto gallery walls, championing a return to figurativism with an entirely new pop culture twist.

Now the most widely disseminated art publication in the world, Juxtapoz has launched careers, inspired gallerists and museums, and helped keep MFA programs full. Big eyed girls, antlers, hotrods, cartoon characters, sides of meat, bunnies, religious figures, robots…these are some of signifiers of those inspired by Juztapoz. Painting, printmaking, sculpture, scratchboard taxidermy, collage, traditional crafts like embroidery all have been fingered by Juxtpoz’s ethos, exploding into the mainstream and shaking up the art world status quo.

Juxtapoz created, and still creates, a foundation and vision that allow young artists to express themselves in the vocabulary of their time and to push their imagination to extremes.

From February 22’s opening party at 5pm through April 19, the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery at Barnsdall Park will overflow with Low Brow, Pop Surrealism, New Figurativism and whatever you wish to call these styles. Curated by Andrew Hosner of Thinkspace Gallery and Gary Pressman, “Twenty Years Under the Influence of Juxtapoz” takes a long lingering look at what the magazine has wrought while continuing to inspire.

At 3pm on Sunday February 22, the exhibition will kick off with a free screening of Robert Williams: Mr Bitchen, totally perfect since Williams, one of Juxtapoz’s founders, will be presenting select works from “SLANG Aesthetics!” The screening is in the Barnsdall Theater.

Both exhibitions are sponsored in part by the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs and the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery. The LAMAG is located within the beautiful Barnsdall Park at 4800 Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. Twenty Years Under the Influence” and “SLANG Aesthetics!” special opening February 22, 5pm. Regular gallery hours are Thursday through Sunday from noon to 5PM; free onsite parking–or take the Metro to Sunset and Vermont exit!

Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation are men who want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the roar of its many waters.
— Frederick Douglass

I should also add the phrase “don’t shoot the messenger.” Graffiti and its related activities, such as postering (“wheat pasting”), is very much part of our urban environment. What I intend to do with periodic posts on Cartwheel Art is not just present the more interesting examples, but to define the issues, technical vocabulary and diversity of viewpoints within that culture. Nobody has to like any street work, legal or illegal, but it’s worthwhile to know what is being talked about. For example, most people don’t know how to tell the difference between gang and non-gang graffiti (the vast majority of what is seen). For those open to seeing graffiti as something not just limited to vandalism, I’ll be offering some perspectives on the distinctions between the good, the bad and the ugly.

I’ll also be spotlighting above-ground professional creative endeavors that are derived from street-styles.

Basic Definitions

For those unfamiliar with some basic definitions of forms of contemporary graffiti, this is where we’ll start.

Writer: Those that do modern graffiti call themselves “writers” because writing one’s name is the root of the whole movement. The term “tagger” is only used by the general public to refer to those doing all forms of marking graffiti.

Tag: the term “tag” is used in three ways. It is a graffiti writer’s name, or the action of putting a name on a surface, or the finished mark itself. It might be done with a marker, spray paint, scribed with a sharp tool, or less commonly with acid bath on windows, but it is calligraphic, in contrast to outlined letters. Fig. 1, various tags.

Throw-up: So called because it is “thrown up” (also shortened to “throwie”) onto a surface, they most often take the form of “bubble” letters consisting of an outline color and a single quick fill color (the area inside the letters). Fig. 2, Crae.

Another relatively quick form of graffiti is the “roller,” so called because the are done primarily with house painting rollers. If the writer feels the time is available, an outline may be put around the letters. Fig. 3, Haeler.

Piece: Short for “masterpiece,” pieces involve more elaborately modified letterforms and a broader range of colors. The writer’s signature is usually more prominent than shout-outs to crew-mates, friends and girlfriends, but not always, sometimes leading even participants in graffiti culture to misidentify pieces on web sites. Fig 3.1, Trav.

Production: When a number of writers coordinate on pieces and unifying background, often with figures (“characters”) and cityscape, that is considered a “production.” Fig. 4, WAI.

While these are basic definitions, there is a continuum from one to another. For example, a throw-up could be a bit more elaborate with drop shadow and some color which some writers would classify as a “simple.”

Along with the above forms, it’s common to see “slap-tags” (Hello, my name is…) where the writer has tagged an adhesive-backed sticker, and stickers with printed images or writing. Fig 4.1

Wheat pasting named for the glue used are also pre-printed rather than an on-the-spot creation. Fig 4.2 Bonks.

Crew: This is a loose association of writers (figs. 5 and 6). A writer may be a member of one crew or of several crews. While some critics of graffiti like to equate crews and gangs, that is misinformed at best and dishonest at worst. Crews are highly ecumenical, with members often being from a variety of ethnic and economic backgrounds. In most cases, the primary illegal activity of a crew is the doing graffiti and the gathering of material for painting the graffiti. Members of a crew may be from all across the city, and the intention is to represent the presence of that crew all across the city as well. Some crews have members in other cities, states or even countries. In contrast, gang activity is usually much more constrained to an area and involves a much broader range of illegal activity. Also, gang life is often violent if not lethal in contrast to crew conflicts which may involve fistfights but rarely guns or any lethal resolution. It is rare for writers to carry guns. The tragic deaths in L.A. that made headlines some years ago came from citizens confronting gang kids, not garden variety writers.

Recent sightings:

While some very skillful style-writing graffiti may be seen in public legal settings, a great amount of interesting work is in out-of-the-way or downright dodgy settings. I’ll post selected recent sightings from around various areas that most people would prefer to avoid. The first random assortment of things (out of hundreds) that I believe are still up as of this printing are:top, Ribs, a relative newcomer; fig. 7, a nice Bonkers, Soup and Haeler AL ground tag; fig. 8, Fishe, Crae, Versuz, Hopes Klek; fig. 9, veteran USC crew members Hert, Render and Alter; fig. 10, Wram x Industrial Downtown; fig. 11, Gas always keeping it funky with representational fill; fig. 12, true virtuosity in a South Central alley by Plek.

Join us in the Downtown Los Angeles Arts District Dog Park where there is a really cool commissioned mural by Septerhead this Saturday February 21 from 2pm-5pm, for a day of dog health and behavior presented by the Los Angeles River Artists and Business Association (LARABA) with special guest Jose Huizar, his family, and his best friend Beau the Frenchie!

There will be $15 Microchipping, free rabies vaccinations for the first 25 participants ($5.00 thereafter), dog massages, dog licensing, Pupsicles, Goodie Bags and Raffles! Local dog experts will also be giving talks about dog behavior, nutrition, socialization, how to read body language and how to give your dog a massage!